Kansas Health Institute reports on downsizing at hospitals for the developmentally disabled: "Admissions to Kansas Neurological Institute will be halted this summer and restricted at Parsons State Hospital, the state's top welfare agency official said today. Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, announced those decisions Monday before the House Social Services Budget Committee. Last year, the state's two hospitals for people with developmental disabilities recorded 20 admissions - two at KNI; 18 at Parsons. ... Jordan said he expects the moves to take about three years. A committee made up of hospital officials and advocates for the developmentally disabled will spend the summer developing new admission standards for the hospitals." The move comes after Gov. Mark Parkinson ordered state officials to identify patients who could be moved safely into community settings. Meanwhile, family members worry "that many medically fragile residents would not survive in community settings" (Ranney, 2/8).
The Las Vegas Sun: "During Gov. Jim Gibbons' State of the State speech Monday, he told Nevadans to prepare for a smaller state government. Although the list of what he wants to jettison is not finalized, and some of these cuts need legislative approval, lawmakers privately have signaled that many will go through. The cuts would run from the dramatic — allowing more mentally ill to become homeless — to the mundane — eliminating vacant positions." And, although the governor rejected proposed cuts, "such as eliminating a health insurance program that covers 22,000 children of the working poor, he proposed curtailing enrollment in programs that serve the mentally ill, mentally disabled and seniors" (Schwartz, 2/9).